Jessie Brockway’s Senior Capstone Project has not only enriched her knowledge of her own ancestry, it has also helped to preserve local history for the Town of Clarendon.
Jessie worked last summer with Town of Clarendon Historian Melissa Ierlan to research past residents of Clarendon, particularly those buried in The Christian Graveyard, also known as the Pettengill Cemetery on Hibbard Road.
Jessie has strong ties to Clarendon. Her mother grew up there and is a graduate of Holley Central School and Jessie’s grandparents still live in Clarendon.
Her senior project enabled Jessie to research the lives of her ancestors on the maternal side of her mother’s family – Jacob Oman and Elisha Farwell – both early residents of Clarendon, and to document her findings in the February 2016 edition of The Clarendon Gazette – www.townofclarendon.org.
“She is wise beyond her years,” Melissa Ierlan says of Jessie. “I gave her an armful of books and information. She took it and ran with it. She is a real solid girl.”
Jessie says the senior project is required before graduating from Spencerport High School and students must choose a topic that will allow them to learn something new to them, and then give back to the community relating to what they have learned.
She decided she wanted to delve into her family history. “I wanted to try out a side of my family I didn’t know much about,” she says. Her thesis focused on researching her ancestors who were prominent and relevant historical residents of Clarendon and demonstrate their contributions to the town.
“I wrote their biographies for Clarendon,” Jessie says. “I’m grateful to Melissa (Ierlan).” Ierlan was able to recommend research materials (including old newspapers) and
Jessie cross-referenced her research and dates via multiple sources including online genealogy sites such as Ancestry.com.
Jessie says she compiled four biographies for the town. Her biography of Jacob Oman (1784-1868) includes the fact he came to Clarendon in 1814 after serving in the War of 1812. “He was a man who not only served his country, but was also a great hunter,” Jessie wrote. “In 1823, it is recorded that he shot one of the largest bears of the area.” Oman and his wife, Amelia, had 11 children.
Elisha Farwell (1814-1896), the subject of another biography, was the first baby boy born in what is now Clarendon. Clarendon was first called Farwell’s Mills as Elisha’s parents set up a saw-mill at the site in 1811. “When Elisha became old enough, he followed in his older brothers’ footsteps (Elisha was the seventh child) … and began carrying mail on horseback to and from Byron Center,” Jessie wrote.
She says history has always interested her. She attended summer camps at Genesee Country Village and Museum and also volunteered there, something she says has helped her to understand more fully what life was like for people in the 1800’s. “You really learn it when you teach it to others,” she says.
Jessie says Spencerport High School Principal Sean McCabe enjoyed her senior project presentation and college admissions personnel have been impressed by the senior project requirement during her interviews. “They were interested in what I chose,” Jessie says.
She and her mom traveled to New York City recently during spring break and enjoyed visiting locations that added to their knowledge of immigration and their own family history such as the Tenement Museum and Ellis Island.
Jessie is still deciding on which college she will attend. She will begin her studies in pre-dentistry, but she knows history and family genealogy will remain an important part of her life.
“It’s part of who I am,” she says.
